About this book

Presented as a Paleontological Society short course at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Vancouver, British Columbia, October 18, 2014. The editors have assembled 14 original contributions that review and expand upon the current state of knowledge surrounding the taphonomic pathways responsible for preserving soft tissues. Many of these papers lean towards the Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic (where Konservat-Lagerstätten are most abundant in geologic time), however, others also treat significantly younger (and equally extraordinary) deposits.

Within this volume contributions have been included that emphasize not only processes (i.e., specific pathways that mineralize tissue) in exceptional preservation, but also patterns (i.e., secular changes in the character/frequency of soft-bodied fossils through time).